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Tuesday, October 4, 2011

learning french

Though we make every effort not to be "those parents" (meaning those parents who over-schedule their toddlers) we have, in fact, enrolled the turtle in a few classes. As my readers know we do a mommy and me yoga class on the occasional Friday I spend at home and Chris started taking our little guy to Music for Aardvarks last year. But this fall we went the extra mile and enrolled the turtle in French at the French Institute Alliance Francaise. So, why French?

I attended a non-denominational private school as a little girl, where conversational French was taught in every grade. So at the age of three, I could speak French almost as well as I could speak English. Unfortunately, I didn't keep up my french lessons when I transferred into the parochial school system a few years later. And, despite the few classes I took in college, I can do little more than say, "I like cheese." Which, and this is a side note, is an excellent phrase to know should you spend any time at all in France.

Chris and I travelled to Paris for the first time in 2006. Chris worked on a French film shoot a year or so later and we have since returned to the city to work and play. It may be my favorite city in the world - with Amsterdam, New York, Missoula and Jackson, Wyoming competing for a close second. (What can I say I'm a city girl who loves her mountains.) And, since our dear friends - one of whom happens to be Chris' writing partner- currently live in Paris, we have no doubt that we'll visit the city frequently over the next few years. So by God, we should all learn the language.

Truth is, it's going to take Chris and I awhile - language acquisition doesn't come easily to a couple of thirty somethings, but I think there's a good chance the turtle will have more luck, especially if we do an early introduction.